1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly to a set of golf clubs having varying grip diameters which are designed for optimum power, distance, control and accuracy.
2. Description of the prior art
It has been recognized for many years that the design of the grip of a golf club is an important factor in facilitating the player's control and accuracy as well as hitting power and distance. This is pointed out, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,055 issued Oct. 31, 1978 to Harry M. Brill. The use of the fingers and palm of the hand in achieving club control and feel is well recognized and is pointed out by such experts as Billy Casper in his book entitled The Good Sense of Golf published by Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Peter Kostis in The Inside Path to Better Golf published by Simon Shuster, New York, N.Y.; and John Elliot in the April, 1990 issue of Golf Digest Magazine. While the diameter of the club grip is a highly significant factor in determining how the player uses his fingers and palm in controlling the club and the type of such control required varies for the swing utilized from club to club in a set, the clubs in prior art club sets are all made with the same grip diameters. Thus, the same grip size is used for a driver with which the swing uses maximum body turn and full power and a pitching wedge which employs a swing with substantially less body turn and power. While the expert golfer has generally learned to adjust his fingers and palm to compensate as need be in using the same diameter grip from club to club, such control compensation is generally not within the level of skill of the average golfer.
Each club in a set of golf clubs is designed for a primary purpose with the longer clubs being designed to hit the ball for distance and the shorter clubs being designed to hit the ball for accuracy. These are the primary purposes of such clubs.
Along with the length of a club, its loft or angle of its face also has a great influence on its distance or accuracy. For example, the #1 wood is the longest club in a set, and it also has the least loft. Both this length and lack of loft help a ball hit with a #1 wood to achieve greater distance than a ball hit with a sand wedge which has the shortest shaft and the greatest loft of any club in the set. It is to be noted that the putter which usually has the shortest shaft and only 4 degrees of loft is not considered part of a club set. Putters are not designed to match or be part of a club set; they are sold as individual clubs.
Below is a listing of the length and loft in a set of golf clubs. While individual manufacturers may vary lengths by 1/4" to 1/2" and also vary lofts by 1/2" degrees to 1 degree, the lengths and lofts listed below are a general pattern for the entire golf industry for men's clubs according to Ralph Maltby in his book entitled Golf Club Repair in Pictures published by the PGA of America.
______________________________________ WOODS LENGTH LOFT (in degrees) ______________________________________ #1 43" 11 #2 42.5" 13 #3 42" 16 #4 41.5" 19 #5 41" 22 #6 40.5" 25 #7 40" 28 ______________________________________ IRONS LENGTH LOFT (in degrees) ______________________________________ #1 39.5" 17 #2 39" 20 #3 38.5" 24 #4 38" 28 #5 37.5" 32 #6 37" 36 #7 36.5" 40 #8 36" 44 #9 35.5" 48 Pitching wedge 35.5" 52 Sand wedge 35.5" 56 ______________________________________
It should be apparent, therefore, that each club is designed with its own specifications to achieve its principal goal. The present invention is directed to providing a grip size which will also contribute to achieving this goal. It is to be noted that clubs designed for women have the same lofts as for men but generally are 1" shorter than comparable men's clubs.